Higher In vitro Proliferation Rate of Rhizopus oryzae in Blood of Diabetic Individuals in Chronic Glycaemic Control Compared with Non-diabetic Individuals

We thank all members of the Laboratory of Clinical Microbiology in the Hospital General Dr. Manuel Gea González, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitacion and Hospital General de México. Also, thanks to the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award, corresponding author’s scholarship sponsor. Financial Support This study did not have pharmaceutical or grant support, and resources were obtained from institutional budgets.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Evaluation of the Response of Posttensioned Steel Frames with Energy Dissipators Using Equivalent Single-Degree-of-Freedom Systems

The hysteretic energy (EH) dissipated in posttensioned steel frames (PTSF) with hysteretic dampers is calculated by using equivalent single-degree-of-freedom systems (ESDOFS), where the nonlinearity of both the steel bars (beam and columns) and the connections of the structural frame is separately considered. Five multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOFS) PTSF and their corresponding ESDOFS are studied under the action of 30 seismic motions recorded in soft ground, scaled in terms of the spectral pseudoacceleration evaluated at the fundamental period of the structures. Several simple mathematical expressions are proposed. The first expression is useful to calculate modifying factors (FMEH) to relate EH of the ESDOFS with that of the MDOFS; the second is to determine the interstory drift (γ) as a function of the seismic intensity. The third equation is to calculate the factor of the relative participation of the energy that the connections dissipate with respect to the total energy EH and the fourth equation, which is function of the γ, is to obtain the distribution factors of EH through the height of the structure. The methodology proposed can be used for the design or the structural revision of PTSF with dampers

Virus en Endodoncia

La infección endodóntica es la infección que afecta al sistema de conductos radiculares y, sin duda, es el principal agente etiológico de las periodontitis apicales. Además, de las bacterias patógenas endodónticas, se ha buscado en los últimos años asociar la presencia de virus en distintos tipos de patología endodóntica. Los virus que más se han buscado y asociado son los pertenecientes a la familia herpesvirus, los cuales se han encontrado presentes en patologías periapicales principalmente. Se ha buscado además, relacionar su presencia a patologías que cursan con mayor sintomatología, o que presentan a la imagen radiográfica destrucciones óseas periapicales mayores. El rol de los virus en las lesiones apicales de origen endodóntico está aún poco claro, se habla de efectos acumulativos a los de las bacterias, además de posibles inmunosupresiones locales que favorecerían el crecimiento y el efecto de estas última

Silicon-Rich Oxide Obtained by Low-Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition to Develop Silicon Light Sources

Off stoichiometric silicon oxide, also known as silicon-rich oxide (SRO), is a light-emitting material that is compatible with silicon technology; therefore, it is a good candidate to be used as a light source in all-silicon optoelectronic circuits. The SRO obtained by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) has shown the best luminescent properties compared to other techniques. In spite of LPCVD being a simple technique, it is not a simple task to obtain SRO with exact silicon excess in a reliable and repetitive way. In this work, the expertise obtained in our group to obtain SRO by LPCVD with precise variation is presented. Also, the characteristics of this SRO obtained in our group are revised and discussed. It is demonstrated that LPCVD is an excellent technique to obtain single layers and multilayers of nanometric single layers with good characteristics

Semi-automatic detection of hepatic tumor in computed tomography images

In this work, the main purpose is develop a computational segmentation strategy for liver tumor semiautomatic detection. This strategy considers three-dimensional computed tomography images and it consists of techniques application that, on the one hand, diminish the noise and detect the edges of the objects present in those images and, on the other hand, generate the liver tumor morphology. For this, the sequence of techniques composed of gaussian smoothing, gradient magnitude, median filter, region growing and binary morphological dilation are used. The value obtained, for the metric called Dice score, show a good correlation between manual segmentation, performed by a hepatologist, and the tumor segmentation obtained using the proposed technique. This type of segmentation is the extreme utility for the characterization of hepatic tumors and the planning of the clinical behavior to be followed in the treatment of this human liver disease

Evaluation of Heavy Metal Content on a Sodic Soil Treated with Bio-waste

The use of bio-wastes in agriculture contributes to the conservation of natural resources by reciclyng carbon and mineral elements. This investigation evaluated the variation of the content of heaby metals in souls affected by sodicity, on which alternating doses of bio-wastes were applied: vinasse, composted swinte manure an sewage sludge forma a wastewater treatment plant. Ten treatments with three doses were implemented for each bio-waste treatment in addition to the control treatment. During the investigationm two applications of bio-wastes were performed with a temporal spacing of two months and three samples were taken: the first one corresponding to the initialcondition of the area without the application of bio-wastes, and the remaining two samples were taken on the first and seventeenth month respectively after the application of bio-wastes. The results indicated a low intake of heaby metals on the soil in the three evaluations that were carried out. However, the use of these residues in agriculture requires specific recommendations for each agro-climatic condition to preven environmental damage

Reduction of Maximum and Residual Drifts on Posttensioned Steel Frames with Semirigid Connections

The aim of this paper is to study the seismic performance of self-centering moment-resisting steel frames with posttensioned connections taking into account nonlinear material behavior, for better understanding of the advantages of this type of structural system. Further, the seismic performance of traditional structures with rigid connections is compared with the corresponding equivalent posttensioned structures with semirigid connections. Nonlinear time history analyses are developed for both types of structural systems to obtain the maximum and the residual interstory drifts. Thirty long-duration narrow-banded earthquake ground motions recorded on soft soil sites of Mexico City are used for the analyses. It is concluded that the structural response of steel buildings with posttensioned connections subjected to intense earthquake ground motions is reduced compared with the seismic response of traditional buildings with welded connections. Moreover, residual interstory drift demands are considerably reduced for the system with posttensioned connections, which is important to avoid the demolition of the buildings after an earthquake

Metastatic pheochromocytoma to liver without elevation of metanephrines and catecholamines

AbstractIntroductionMalignant pheochromocytoma represents 10% of all patients with pheochromocytoma. Of these cases, only 5–9% presents without elevation of metanephrines and catecholamines.Presentation of caseA 43-year-old female patient presented with an abdominal tumor. An exploratory laparotomy was performed and the final report was a pheochromocytoma. After ten years, multiple liver lesions were detected and surgical treatment was performed. Pathological evaluation revealed a malignant pheochromocytoma with negative margins after 5 years of follow-up without evidence of disease.DiscussionThe recurrence rate of malignant pheochromocytoma is 15–20% at ten years and a 5-year survival rate that ranges from 50% to 80%. The presence of synchronous metastases is rare (10–27%), but have been reported until 20 years later with the most common metastatic sites being the local lymph nodes, bone (50%), liver (50%) and lung (30%). The prognostic factor such as size >6cm, age over 45 years, synchronous metastasis and no tumor excision are related with poor prognosis.ConclusionSurgical treatment offers the best survival rate and the only chance of cure so far and the goal is an R0 resection as in our case. So it should be the treatment of choice

The mental and subjective skin: Emotion, empathy, feelings and thermography

[EN]We applied thermography to investigate the cognitive neuropsychology of emotions, using it as a somatic marker of subjective experience during emotional tasks. We obtained results that showed significant correlations between changes in facial temperature and mental set. The main result was the change in the temperature of the nose, which tended to decrease with negative valence stimuli but to increase with positive emotions and arousal patterns. However, temperature change was identified not only in the nose, but also in the forehead, the oro-facial area, the cheeks and in the face taken as a whole. Nevertheless, thermic facial changes, mostly nasal temperature changes, correlated positively with participants’ empathy scores and their performance. We found that temperature changes in the face may reveal maps of bodily sensations associated with different emotions and feelings like love